#light elf will byers

[skyfallart]

On the night of November 6th, 1983, twelve year old Jimmy Kern* heads back home from a night out with his friend. However… he never arrives. Now, Craig, Clyde, and Token must band together to find out what happened -- while getting entangled with supernatural forces... and a supernatural kid.

^Fan S1 Poster - S1 Redrawn Scenes

A/N: I don't what possessed me to write/draw this, but here it is. Since this an AU there has and will be changes. For now I just listened below the characters in the poster, and who their Stranger Things counter part is. I'm finishing up some scenes I redrawn, so hopefully I can get those up too (And introduce you to more people in the universe).

So, first up, we got the boys. We got...

° Craig Tucker - 12 - Dungeon Master/Thief - Middle Child - "Leader" of the group. Basically, I saw fan art of Creek being Mileven and I just had to try doing it on my own. Craig, just like in SP, is like the leader of his own group in this AU. I also made his D&D counterpart the same as TSoT, a thief instead of a paladin. But despite being a thief, he's still the heart of the group. Just like in Stranger Things, he's the one to find and allow Tweek to stay in his home. ° Token "Tolkien" Black || 12 || Ranger || Only Child || "Brawns over Brains" of the group. Still a bit of a rich kid in this AU, and lives with his two parents. He tends to butt heads with the others when Tweek comes into the story, feeling a bit left out and untrusting of the kid with superpowers; But eventually that all gets cleared up. In this AU, he's the one that goes to camp in S3, and has a long distance relationship with his GF, `Nicole, whom he met at camp. ° Clyde Donovan || 12 || Elf Cleric || Only Child || The "Voice of Reason" of the group. Lives with his single mother, Betsy, and their cat: Mr. Kitty (Stealing Cartman's cat here for this). I see him sharing a lot of traits with Dustin, but he's also a bit like Lucas too in this AU (He's more of the sporty one, and his GF, Bebe appears in S2 taking the place of Max). ° 011 - AKA: "Tweek" (Later: Tweek Marsh) - 12 - Mage - Superpowered Lab Rat Same kind of origin, stripped away from his mother and placed inside South Park Lab. After escaping he's found by the boys and ends up staying at Craig's house. He has the 011 tattoo on his wrist, but instead of being given the name "El", Craig gives him the name "Tweek" because of his fidgety moments (I see him being spazzy in this AU from the stress he felt from the lab, rather than the drug-induced coffee).

Then, we got the Kerns, which replaces the Byers. Seeing that Sharon has multiple last name's in SP, I chose Kern 'cause it sounded better than the others.

° Jimmy Valmer Kern - 12 - Bard - Youngest Child - "Ride or Die" Comedy until he's very last breath. May or may not have punched Vecna in the face while in the upside down. I unfortunately have to make our poor boy Jimmy as Will. I promise he won't be as neglected once he returns like his ST counterpart. He's D&D character is a bard like in TSoT, and for now, I have to romance planned for him. Just good old family love.

° Sharon Kern - 40s - Single Mother - Will do anything for her children. I thought she was the perfect choice for Joyce after seeing the "Spooky Fish" episode. Sharon literally was burying bodies for her son Stan, and making sure he wouldn't end up in jail (For something he didn't do). I could definitely see this woman communicating with X-Mas lights to find her son. ° Older! Stanley Kern - 16 - Oldest Child - Excellent Photographer - Can actually talk to girls without vomiting. And yes, we're getting Blond Stan in this AU because I said so. I made him Jonathan in this AU after deciding who was going to be playing Nancy. Stan's kind of an outcast until he meets Wendy, who's trying to look for his lost friend, while he looks for his brother. Together, with their determination combined, they'll make anything work.

Other Characters. We've got...

° Older! Wendy Testaburger Tucker - 16 - Older Child - Total Badass in the second half of the 1st season. Typical sibling love-hate relationship w/Craig. After realizing her friend has gone missing under mysterious circumstances, typical "All-American" girl Wendy transforms into someone better, as she will do anything to find out what happen. She teams up with Stan... giving her boyfriend the wrong idea (Not spoiling who the BF is just yet). ° Randy Marsh - 40s - Town Sheriff - Has the hots for local single mother, Sharon (If it isn't obvious). Randy, just like Hopper, in this AU had an ex-wife and a daughter who passed (Sorry, Shelley). He lives a sad life of donuts and alcohol, until the search for Jimmy sparks something inside of him, and spirals his life into the supernatural forces caused by the lab. He eventually has to get Sharon involved to solve this crime. ° Dr. Alphonse Mephesto - 50s - Genetic Engineer/Crazed Local Scientist - "Papa" to a lot of children that ain't even his (I mean, he named his kids after numbers. Can we call CPS now?). I didn't know who else to pick, but for some reason Mephesto might actually be a good choice for Brenner. You'll learn more about him later on.

For now, that's all I got. I'll try to finish those screencaps soon! (And if anyone's interested, maybe I'll write a fanfic? Or a fan-comic?)

[fizzigigsimmer]

PLEASE I'm begging you tell us a little bit about how the photoshoot goes

“Harrington?” Billy stares at Jonathan in disbelief. He can��t have heard that right. It was disconcerting enough to find out that Steve was involved with the calendar at all - Jonathan is the only one that Billy has kept up with from high school, but he knows by adjacency that Byers still talks to others. Then again his roots were always deeper in Harrington’s world than Billy’s were, even when it made little sense. If Jonathan had swooped Billy’s ex, they certainly wouldn’t be in a position for Byers to ask him favors.

It’s been more than two decades, so on some level Billy understands why Jonathan hadn’t thought to mention that ‘hey, I’m putting together a holiday calendar for a charity campaign for three legged kittens rescued from fires. I’ve asked a few personal friends to model, but I could really use your star power’ meant that Billy was volunteering to spend an afternoon pretending to dom Steve Harrington in front of at least five of their old classmates. But considering how the non-relationship between he and Steve ended, he’d have thought to at least run the concept by himself if he were in Jonathan’s shoes, before letting that name roll off his tongue over coffee as if it were no big deal.

Then again, maybe Jonathan knows exactly what he’s doing. Because with a whole company to run Billy’s not exactly searching for things to fill his time with, and yet he cleared his schedule just for the chance to see Harrington up close and personal in what can only be described as the worlds barest attempt at a costume. Apparently a pair of skintight pleather pants and a string of Christmas lights around the neck is all that’s needed to convey the idea of a Christmas elf. Admittedly the prosthetic ears are a nice touch, but still. Jonathan babbles about a series of mini storylines involving sexy santas and their naughty submissives, each culminating in what basically translates to soft porn. Nothing you couldn’t see on a movie poster or the cover of a romance novel, but something to get the people excited.

Billy hears none of it. All he sees is Steve’s skin, bathed in LED glow illuminating the dark trail of hair down his chest. Fuck. He can’t even swallow for a moment, his mouth is so dry.

“Harrington?” He finds himself repeating later, this time softer and with far more imbued questions, to the man himself.

“Hargrove.” Steve straightens from his slouch in the chair as Billy approaches, and that doesn’t mean anything, like at all, but something inside Billy still thrills at it. Wants to walk away just to call his name again and see him rise to attention. “Hey. Small world huh?”

Steve sounds nervous, but Billy relaxes at the obvious attempt at small talk that Steve makes. This is run of the mill polite awkwardness, and not any of the other things it could have been.

“Yeah. Jonathan roped you into this too huh?”

“Jason actually. You remember him? He was the year below us.” Steve says, the golden bell on the end of his striped hat jingling as his fingers alternately tug and tuck at the long strands of hair falling out from under it. Skittish. It’s criminal how good he looks in a derpy hat with soft brown hair framing his face. Stepping up to the edge of the chair he’s sitting in Billy can see the dark eyeliner and the shadow painted on his eyes to make them pop. Whatever Jonathan is paying the makeup artist he needs to double it, because the innocence of those big bambi eyes looking up at him. Fuck me. Like Harrington needed any help in that department. Like the memory of Steve staring up at him from the gymnasium floor isn’t seared into Billy’s hindbrain already.

Steve coughs a little in the back of his throat and shifts in his seat. It’s the minutest little movement but Billy’s gaze latches onto it like a circling bird of prey. He suddenly becomes cognizant of their position. Stood toe to toe with the legs of his chair, Billy is looming over Harrington, blocking both his escape and his vision but Steve isn’t signaling his discomfort or telling him to move. He’s attempting conversation despite the obvious nerves, prolonging the interaction.

“Yeah I remember him. Played for the JV team right?”

Billy wants Steve nervous and afraid - because in this moment he kinda wants Steve’s everything - but not like that. He doesn’t want Steve afraid to talk to him, over some misconception that he’s still hung up on high school bullshit, so he gives ground and lowers himself into the empty seat beside Steve to watch the way his chest falls with the first release of relieved breath before legs, followed by the rest of him, angle themselves toward Billy and he rewards Billy’s good memory with small smile.

“Yeah. We were roommates for a while in college before he and Eddie got together. You know -”

“Yeah I know Munson. Hand me that, will you?” Billy leans against the arm of his chair and into Steve’s space to interject, because you’d be hard pressed to find a former student of Hawkins High school who didn’t remember the resident dealer, and because Steve’s shoulders are tightening with each word along with his grip on the chair arms; because he’s talking to Billy and it’s obviously uncomfortable, and Billy just wants him to stop thinking about it. Steve blinks as he stutters to a stop in surprise, before his gaze follows the direction Billy indicated with the nod of his head and finds the pitcher of water on a little tray with drinking cups that some PA has set upon the coffee table.

“Oh! Yeah sure.” Steve smiles, relaxing now that he knows what Billy wants. And it shouldn’t be possible - all Billy wanted to do was give him a reason not to think - but he’s watching Harrington’s pupils widen and the tension in shoulders unwind just that easy, like his whole body is grateful for this new purpose, as he leans forward, bending that beautiful body over the coffee table, fixing Billy a drink like that’s just the natural conclusion to the realization that he has a thirst.

“It’s crazy how hot it gets under studio lights right?” He’s talking, smiling invitingly as he turns to offer Billy the glass of water in his hand and shares some memory involving a theater and the kids he apparently teaches. And it’s not that Billy isn’t listening to every word coming out of those perfect lips. It’s just that there is no room to process them right now in the face of Steve Harrington unfurling like a butterfly out of a cocoon, finally at ease in Billy’s presence, all because Billy gave him an order to follow.

[mattiehenderson]

Elf-Witch

Synopsis: my first Stranger Things fic, don't be hard on me please. I'm so happy to see an 80s metalhead represented in a positive light for ONCE! I couldn't help but fall in love with him just like everyone else with taste. So I prefer writing male x male romances, and can I just say we need way more bottom princess male reader and dom daddy Eddie fics. This is my attempt to try and help with that. So this story focuses on my OC, Matthew "Mattie" Henderson, he's Dustin's older brother who's a senior. Heavily bullied for being so effeminate and goth. He has always had a crush on Eddie Munson since freshman year, but unfortunately Eddie is straight...or is he?

Warnings : Sexual language and imaginations. Minors do not interact, 18+.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Henderson!OC

☆☆☆☆☆▪︎☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Look at me, please turn around and just look at me.

I stared intensely at the boy who sat in front of me in English, wavy chestnut curtains of hair poured past shoulders too broad for a normal senior, and onto my desk.

I could smell his v05 shampoo, the aloe one, and the Irish spring that almost hid his signature Marlboro and kush cologne. Slowly, quietly, I inhaled the scent that was all things Eddie Munson, the eternal prisoner of Hawkins High School.

In my marble notebook that was graffiti'd with cutouts of my favorite bands and scented stickers, I sketched an imprisoned Eddie in a medieval, hooded cloak behind bars, and coming to rescue him was a soft looking male witch. It went along with the story I was secretly writing for my own pleasure, the poor dungeon master who has been trapped in the dungeons of Hawkeye Castle for 400 years, under an evil queen's spell. Perhaps I named her Queen Cristiana of Hawkeye, after a certain stupid cheerleader that I always see hanging around a certain metal head after hours.

I don't know why I do this to myself, in what universe do I have a chance? Maybe in my own universe in my own land of make believe, but nymphs and orcs and furies also exist there so there's that.

In the real world, Chrissy Cunningham is the most beautiful girl in Hawkins, she's the head cheerleader and smells like Anais Anaïs, she has perfect hair and she's a she.

I, Mattie Henderson, am a boy. Not only am I a boy, but I'm a boy who wears more makeup than any girl in school. I wear my bleached curls too long and listen to darkwave. Eddie Munson would never!

I gently huffed before I finished sketching the scene where Matthias the Enchanter, in his red violet cloak and gossamer garments, shared a kiss with Sir Edward the Banished. 

It was hilarious really. I have known him since I was a freshman, secretly pining, and knowing we have many interests in common, especially D&D, but I've always been too shy to approach him. Too shy to approach anyone, only having one friend my whole time living in Hawkins, Robin Buckley. I'm not as good with people as my little brother, growing up in the Midwest with being what I am and how I am, I figured it's smarter to keep away. Robin always understood me, since we met in seventh grade and I moved here from Connecticut.

After everything last summer with Starcourt, and finding out about what my brother and his friends have been apart of, I shockingly acquired new friends, the very unexpected Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, and my art class acquaintances Jonathan Byers.

It's been a lot, it's been a fucking lot, and with it being my senior year the stress has been added. Mom keeps asking about my college options, telling me Indiana University has a pretty good art program. But I don't have the grades, I do enough to get by, school makes me miserable, I could care less about mundane things like classes and grades and teachers, and artificial societies. And sure I like art, but I love doing hair and makeup and nails too, something my mother definitely reaps the benefits of. And I don't exactly love Hawkins the Cursed Lands, but after everything and not sure about this place ever being safe again, I'd never leave my brother here without me. And as pathetic as it sounds, the thought of leaving the man who doesn't know I exist makes my stomach hurt.

I felt guilty for my thoughts, for my fantasies about him, for wishing the reason why I put my black velvet choker on this morning was to cover a bruise from his huge, ring wrapped fingers. Oh how I would cut off all twenty inches of my hair to just have his towering 5'11 frame over my 5'5 one, staring down into my black lined Hazel eyes, with his dark, teddy bear gaze.

The teacher must have sent paper down, because with the melodic swish of his chocolate butter ringlets, I was looking up at him and slamming my marble notebook shut faster than you can say Kissimmee. Dark, button eyes glanced at me before doing a double take. Now fixated on me feeling like a goldfish, with his plush, pillowy, bubblegum pink lips parted.

How the hell could anyone ostracize and hate such a gorgeous human being? Then the angel spoke and I felt like he was oozing the gospel.

Here we go again.

All because of one damn class I'm sitting in Johnson's English for the third fucking time.

I was the last one to plop my ass down, toward the back, the desk with the D&D scribbles and the classic "Ozzy rules" that violated government property. I got a snide remark from Johnson, and snickers and insults from Carver and his ball buddies.

This was exactly why I preferred to escape to my own world, where there are dragons and halflings, or when I close my eyes and finger my sweetheart. Just close my eyes and listen to The Number of the Beast, forgetting that reality is being the town's leper in a town where they decide Jason Carver is a good person because he knows his way around a ball.

Johnson was droning on about fucking writing prompts where he cares more about where a comma goes than if the story is good or not. 

And then, as I'm passing back the picture prompt for the first day of hell, I did a double take at a new face. A face prettier than even the likes of Chrissy Cunningham. Looking up shyly at me, drawing out a protective feeling I didn't know I possessed, are bedroom, dreamy lidded eyes painted a lavender gray,with thick broom-like sweeping lashes that flutter before bright Hazel eyes, that reminded me of summer turning into fall, green fading into browning leaves and golden maples. Kohl-rimmed, making them more pronounced and more awe-inspiring.

Her nose is cute and broad with a puggish finish that rests prettily between roundish cheeks painted a deep blush. My eyes traveled down to a pair of the ideal cock sucking lips, I'm so sorry but I don't really know what else to call them. They're so full and big, so cushiony and I'm a pretty imaginary guy, so what I'm thinking of doing to that mouth…fucking that gorgeous face, making those Hazel eyes water and her gothic makeup run down those pretty chipmunk cheeks, making a big mess of her blood red lipstick smudging it on my cock. 

I shifted in my seat feeling my dick stir, and this was not the time. Cascading around her face was voluminous white blonde curls, so wild and untamable like an elf-witch, very surreal and otherworldly and contrasts beautifully with her dark eyebrows.

And as if my she-elf couldn't have been more perfect, not only did she have herself collared by a black velvet choker, but a cut off Shout at the Devil Mötley Crüe  shirt encased her. My mouth watered and when she lifted a fishnet, arm fingerless glove adorned wrist to take the prompt from me, I inhaled the sweet smell of apricots and roses and sweet, expensive perfume. I couldn't get enough of it.

"Munson, are you drooling? Is that drool, freak?" Carver happily and loudly like a fucking foghorn called me out in front of everyone. Nothing new, usually I'm very unphased by embarrassment, I mean I'm a 20 year old senior. But, for once that jockstrap got to me, knowing this enchantress witnessed it witnessed him calling me out for something she caused. I snapped my head away fast and wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my jacket before inspecting the porosity. Damn, I was fuckin drooling.

Saved by the Johnson, the droning authority started a roll call. Imagine my surprise when Johnson called out Matthew Henderson and it happened to be my little elf-witch…or elf-warlock should I say.

[angelic-writer]

Any HCs for CT characters and/or OCs in Christmas?

The Roulette boys just have their own Christmas party hosted by one of the boys before they go with their families. The team is there too and and they. Go wild.

The Byers twins buy a huge amount of gifts and most of them are for Kevin. Ever since they met him in gym, they've been spoiling him. Whether it be leaving bags of candy on his doorstep on Halloween or bulk buying presents for him. They love him so much.

Koby, Marcus and Tori have a tradition of going to their town's Christmas lights show. They have some classic Christmas movies playing on the projector as they drive by from the Grinch to Christmas Movie.

Peter goes above and beyond to make Christmas dinner for Sarah, even putting on some classic tunes. But she doesn't understand. Doesn't appreciate it.

She'll come to soon.

When Brock was alive, he, Williams and Swanson would host their own party at the office. The chief would give them Christmas day off just to give them some time for themselves. When Brock disappeared, they try to keep the tradition alive with Manny.

Cassidy has a small party with her moms.

Ethan would be too depressed to even notice the festivities happening at the orphanage. After he and Eric get adopted, they get roped into the Christmas parties with the teammates.

David's too busy trying to be a tech bro to celebrate.

Sophie would do her best to celebrate with Alice. She'd dress up as either an elf or a reindeer and play with her.

Dr. North would leave a little present for Brandon. It's not much, but it's enough for him to smile a little.

Matthew spoils Madeline in a similar fashion as in he buys her a lot of gifts for her. She keeps telling him he doesn't have to do that, but he reiterates that it's because he loves her.

Declan Vera is a classic Scrooge.

The Bachmans used to host Christmas parties where they invite their friends over. Sometimes, they bring home a little gift for their guests. ;)

Manny usually spent Christmas alone in his apartment, but ever since Swanson got transferred to his department, he gets pulled into those Christmas office parties. He's come to appreciate them.

As for the Atlas crew, they usually spend Christmas with their own families, but since they went to Mars, they decided to throw their own party. Captain Keller may have gotten a bit drunk and told them about a dream he had about being the ringleader of a circus. That would be their first and last Christmas together...

[jordi-gali]

The Dope Elf, written and directed by Asher Hartman, Gawdafful National Theater, 2019, performed at Yale Union, Portland, Oregon (photo by Ian Byers-Gamber) https://hyperallergic.com/522955/shining-a-light-on-portlands-art-scene-10-exciting-venues-in-the-rose-city/

[byleriscanon713by]

Will byers

lighter (especially the Lana del Rey ones)

no but I wish I did

megladons (maybe still living)

hazel (green when I wear light clothing)

do what?

Scrunchies

none surprisingly

cold coffee

no I don’t have the heart

singing

Sunny with a light cloud covering

i ate lunch at like 1 o’clock and I had a tiny crunch bar at like 4:30

YES

no

very well

i can’t see sh*t

shampoo and conditioner <3

im not that good at doing it on myself but I’m pretty good at doing it on others so ofc

soda

my teddy bear

I’m a perfectionist

IM ADDICTED TO IT

stargazing and talking about really deep things but also taking moments to laugh and be stupid

Perfume

a really nice hug

eight

not anymore but I used to

scalding

there was a paper plate but I threw it away!!!

taylor swift but honestly just really emotional music with powerful bridges

yep

my girlfriend and I went to horror nights. it was my sixth time and her second just this year but it’s always an adventure.

many songs but one I could recite under any circumstance would be all too well (ten minute version) by Taylor swift

EST

two on tumblr

my friend lauren

any manly scent

occasionally

a small crunch bar lol

im not a coffee person

pinterest

i love spicy food because it tastes SOOOO GOOD but I like can’t eat it cuz of my stupid taste buds

I wouldn’t kill anyone irl but fictional character wise I’d kill eleven from stranger things cuz her character annoys me (sorry)

yes

horror movies for Halloween. I’m not a fan of Christmas movies (although I love Elf)

“did u email the stuff?” and before that cuz I just sent that message while checking what the last message I sent was “that sounds like some code name for illegal movie pirating”

way too young I was like 9 and I had a sip of wine

i wish

sure

here’s weirder asks

who is/are your comfort character(s)?

lighter or matches?

do you leave the window open at night?

which cryptyd being do you believe in?

what color are your eyes?

why did you do that?

hair-ties or scrunchies?

how many water bottles are in your room right now?

which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee?

would you slaughter the rich?

favorite extracurricular activity?

what kind of day is it?

when was the last time you ate?

do you love the smell of earth after it rains?

are you a parent? (all answers qualify)

can you drive?

are you farsighted or nearsighted?

what hair products do you use?

imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

do you say soda or pop?

something you’ve kept since childhood?

what type of person are you?

how do you feel about chilly weather?

if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing?

perfume/body spray or lotion?

a scenario that you’ve replayed multiple times?

about how many hours of sleep did you get?

do you wear a mask?

how do you like your shower water?

is there dishes in your room?

what type of music keeps you grounded?

do you have a favorite towel?

the last adventure you’ve been on?

is there a song you know every word to by heart?

what’s your timezone?

how many times have you changed your url?

someone in your life, other than a relative, you’ve known for 10+ years?

a soap bar that smells good?

do you use lip balm?

did you have any snacks today?

how do you take your coffee?

an app you frequently use besides this godforsaken site?

what’s your take on spicy foods?

you get a free pass to kill anyone, who is it?

can you remember what happened yesterday?

favorite holiday film?

what was the last message you sent?

when did you first try an alcohol beverage?

can you skip rocks?

can i tag you in random stuff?

[space-invading-pigeon]

Monsters AU, anyone????

If you haven't already guessed it, Steve Harrington is my comfort character and almost everything I write lately has to do with him. But I love myths and monsters, so I mashed them up.

Steve is a werewolf; not always, but an incident when he was four changed him. His mother blames herself for his accident and tends to stay away from him, too overcome with guilt to even look at her son. Unfortunately, of all things, he was changed into a pack animal, and the loss of his mother's comfort has a negative effect. He's withdrawn, aggressive, unable to get comfortable in his own skin, all before even starting kindergarten- his only relief is when his mother hires an old friend to watch him. Her friend is from the supernatural world: the oldest son of a family of vampires that have lived in the United States since they stowed away on the Mayflower.

Steve and his new babysitter are instantly bonded: Steve goes back to being a sweet, albeit clingy, little angel, and his sitter is always more than happy to indulge him and shower him in love. Life is really looking up for Steve, to the point that he secretly refers to himself as "Stevie Munson," and dreams up a world where Wayne is his pa, instead of his actual father. But life is rarely kind to Steve, and soon his beloved Wayne has to leave town for an undetermined amount of time because of a "family emergency." Steve is heartbroken that he isn't allowed to go with him.

As if losing his sitter isn't enough, Steve's mother dies in a robbery-gone-wrong on Steve's ninth birthday, five years to the day after the attack that changed him. Richard Harrington can't be assed to take care of his son in her stead, and hires another sitter. Claudia Henderson (human, through and through) decides on her first day that Steve is as much her son as Dustin, and that only solidifies when she discovers that the poor baby her late husband attacked years ago was actually Steve. Dustin (a born werewolf as opposed to Steve, a changed werewolf) decides that Steve is his brother immediately, and it's like two puppies have found each other. Steve is protective, loving, and maybe a little bit possessive of his new brother, but Dustin has love to spare. As he grows from toddler to kid to preteen, he acquires more and more friends: first, Will Byers, from a family of light elves, who is shy and artistic and never cuts off one of Dustin's excited rants, even though they're both seven and Dustin's grasp of engineering is on par with a college undergrad. With Will comes Mike Wheeler and his older sister, Nancy, both of whom are descendants of the great Valkyrie. Nancy is a little more.... ethereal than Mike, because their Valkyrie blood is more prominent in women, but they're both stubborn and snarky and have a weird obsession with the Byers boys, but Dustin swears that they're both very nice. Lucas Sinclair comes around soon after, and he's really the only friend of Dustin's that Steve has actually met. He's a soft-spoken kid until he's comfortable, and then he's quick witted and so loyal that Steve actually thinks that maybe he's a werewolf, instead of a chimera.

Steve refuses to meet anyone else in Dustin's friend group; he says it's because he's too big to be around Dustin's friends, but it's actually because he doesn't think that he can be around them without lashing out for taking his baby brother away from him.

When Dustin is eleven and Steve is seventeen, Chief Hopper- the only Berserker in Hawkins- adopts a little witch named Jane, although she answers more to El than she does Jane. Soon after, Max Mayfield moves to town, and Dustin's little group of friends adds the banshee to their ranks.

Finally, Steve agrees to meet his friends, lovingly dubbed "the Party" by every member of it. They're wary of Steve at first- Richard Harrington is the most outspoken anti-supernatural in town, and they didn't know that Dustin's Big Brother Steve the Werewolf was actually Steve Harrington, so almost all of them are sure that they'll be harassed in their safe space. Steve is quiet for a while, yes, but Will and El take to him immediately, and Steve is weak for people who look at him like he's worth something (it's why he's such a pushover for Dustin and Claudia; they love him unconditionally and he will do anything to make himself feel worthy of that) so he adopts Will and El into his little family almost immediately.

Will and El adore Steve: El insists that he's a big, fluffy puppy, and her descriptions have never been wrong, so it makes the entire Party warm up to him. Will is painfully shy, and the speed with which he warms up to Steve is unheard of; but Will quite literally glows when Steve shows up, and even once he's calmed down the air around him glitters with his excitement. Steve takes to them both; at first, Dustin is over the moon at this.

Next to warm up to Steve is Lucas, a few weeks after Steve joins the Party. He's frosty toward Steve at first, but at a group movie night he watches Steve jump out of a dead sleep to jump out of a window and slam into a tree, face first (apparently, he'd been having a dream about a cheese monster trying to eat his toes). Then, Jonathan and Nancy, who both watch Steve with the kids and decide that, yes, they do have a crush on the sweet, dumb dog that's joined their ranks. Nancy asks him out first, though, and Steve is flustered enough that he agrees (and is almost instantly smitten with her). Mike refuses to warm up to Steve; the guy can't even breathe right, as far as Mike is concerned.

The longer that Steve and Nancy date, the angrier Dustin gets. He feels like he's being left behind. Steve spends more and more time with Nancy, at her behest. Neither of them realize how unhealthy their relationship is growing to be, just how the relationship between Nancy's parents are. Nancy demands that everything be held to a certain standard, and Steve does everything he possibly can to meet that standard. It isn't until Nancy dumps him- a very nasty affair that has Steve avoiding everyone except Dustin- that they actually grow as people and become something healthier to each other. (Just like in the show, they get into a fight at a party, and when they revisit it while sober, they fight again; Steve is hurt and wants to know if she really thinks he's bullshit, and Nancy won't give him a straight answer. He's upset and he can feel himself losing control of himself, so he walks away. Nancy leaves town on an overnight trip to get some info with Jonathan, and when she comes back, she spits vitriol at a panicked, concussed Steve. She does a lot of growing up after that, but she never actually apologizes for hurting Steve, although he frequently tries to "make up" for his own mistakes.

Max joins the group soon after that, and gets along with Steve almost immediately. She's a young banshee, and a part of her lore explains that she screams; she can't control when, how long, or even how loudly she screams, and as a result her step-brother (a human named Billy) is incredibly abusive. He belittles her for her Screams, and isn't afraid to shove her around (never where their parents can see: if Susan caught wind of it, his father Neil would hear, and Neil was not a man to cross). When Max meets Steve, and watches how he picks on the Party using their own species(he calls Lucas "little lion man," Will is Sunshine, Mike is Paladin Shithead, and Dustin has always been pup) while still encouraging them (Steve encourages the kids as they grow and develop these new abilities, never belittling them for their struggles, but showing them that it's okay to mess up. She doesn't know that it's because Steve had no one to do that for him until his mother died and the Hendersons were brought into his life). She's afraid to open up to the guy, right up until, in the middle of a crisis situation where Max is forced to use her powers on purpose for the first time, Steve throws himself in the line of fire to protect the Lucas- and by extension, the whole Party- more than once.

Steve protects her from Billy when he tries to "pick her up" (read: drag her home by the hair without regard for her safety), allows Billy to beat his ass because the alternative at the time was to chase him away until no one was around to protect Lucas, and then, with a whole concussion, does a full shift and defends the children from these strange alternate hellbeasts that were summoned by some crazies at the Hawkins Laboratory for Scientific Witchcraft. The guy even praised her for Screaming on purpose, calling her a hero. Max is soon just as attached to Steve as any other.

In the summer after breaking up with Nancy, Steve gets a job at the mall. He meets Robin, who seems for all intents and purposes a simple human being. She's quirky and goofy and she smells like the ocean after a storm; Steve loves her very quickly, but something in him keeps him from actually developing a crush. Robin is his beloved other half, his soulmate, the yin to his yang, whatever else means that she completes him. She calls him Dingus exclusively, and Steve knows that if he ever heard it while he was shifted fully, he would be rolling around like a delighted puppy. He learns later, after they've fought for their lives and suffered and survived, that Robin was born a normal human, but after the most traumatic experience of her life, she was transformed into a siren.

After the mall, Robin is inducted into the group. She keeps an eye on the kids while they're at school, partially for her own sanity, but also for Steve, who is beside himself at the prospect of his babies being out of sight for so long (he gets like this after every Upside-Down interaction, he loves those kids and he can't stand the idea of losing the family he's built for himself). By the end of the first month, Steve is desperate to meet this guy his kids keep ranting about, Eddie Munson, and it's just because he's worried about them, not because he's afraid of losing his spot as their Big Brother or because the name Munson struck a chord in the back of his mind(for whatever reason).

Without the kids knowing- except Max, because she saw him going up to the Munson trailer. She would never bring it up to the Party unless Steve did first- Steve goes to meet this Eddie Munson and maybe scope out the competition a little. Instead, he meets a pasty boy with unfairly attractive hands and full lips and the warmest chocolate eyes and-

His mooning over this pretty boy is cut short when a man with a painfully familiar face peers in from the kitchen, meeting Steve's eyes with a surprised, "Stevie?" The greeting is enough to make Steve tear up, and he starts freaking out because why is he so happy that this guy knows him, and he's ushered into their little home and onto an old, well-loved couch. Eddie is gushing about finally meeting the Stevie Harrington, he's been told all about him from Wayne through the years. Eddie asks him why he's never seen him at school, and Steve mumbles about being home-schooled ("I won't let people see my mistakes so easily," Richard Harrington drilled into his head from the moment Steve was old enough to go to school). Wayne is flustered and standoffish for all of three minutes before Steve is smothered in more paternal affection than he's received since he was seven; it clicks in his brain when Wayne calls him Stevie again, that he used to wish and beg the stars to change him into Stevie Munson, not Harrington, and that Wayne was his best friend for three years.

Eddie is smitten with this strong, pretty, downright fluffy boy that showed up on his doorstep, even more so when Wayne Munson (easily most comfortable when left alone in quiet) spends almost an hour fussing over and showering him in praise. Steve becomes a regular fixture in the Munson household, after that. Wayne spends weeks explaining the different types of supernatural creatures that have made their homes in Hawkins and the surrounding area, explaining Munson family history, and Steve finally has someone to walk him through everything about werewolves (Claudia tried, but she was really only parroting things she'd picked up as she raised Dustin, not any formal education. Steve never knew that it was a special thing to achieve a full shift; that particular afternoon had Eddie calling him a sweet little pup for a month).

********

I'm too lazy to spend another two days puzzling out how I want the rest of the show's plot to align with this au. I have it in my wips folder but this is already suuuuper long. My bad, pals

[skrittle-mix]

The Bingham House

I've only seen a little bit of talk about the Bingham house, so I wanted to add my observations to see how it represents season four and Mike’s character.

Starting off, we have a moment before the group even enter the house. Jonathan says how the group need to be on “their best behaviour”. We are expected to take this as meaning Argyle, who chimes in asking why Jonathan looked at him when he says this line, but it’s Mike who adds that the Binghams are very religious. Also, to note, Mike is the only one to make a change within the house - correcting himself from saying holy shit to holy heck in the father’s study.

Next, we see the door opening and Mike gets stuck with a yellow arrow by Cornelius. I’m not going to go in-depth into the yellow/blue byler colour coding, but basically, Will is yellow and Mike is blue. So Mike gets hit with a yellow arrow from someone that shares the name with a saint that unites an artist with his lover is a neon light. (he was also the patron saint of lovers in Rhineland)  Not to mention, the artist was commissioned to do his piece of work, which Mike currently believes to be true with Will’s painting.

Upon entering the home, we are shown two children sword fighting on the kitchen table. They are quoting Shakespeare, Henry IV Part 1, Act II, Scene IV;  “you starveling, you elf-skin, you driedneat's tongue”. They also quote Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act II, Scene IV when Suzie’s father runs downstairs; “away, you mouldy rogue, away”. We’ve been made aware of Shakespeare in the past when Dustin refers to Suzie and himself as ‘star-crossed lovers’. In the script for 3x01, it refers to Mike and El as star-crossed lovers aswell. In this season, we’ve had Mike being called Romeo by Argyle and the oven behind him while giving his monologue is branded as ‘Montague’, Romeo’s family name.

We then have the death scene being directed, which later gets paralleled to Mike’s monologue, and shows that the monologue is in Will’s POV. The director says to the father, who would be in Mike’s situation, “your terror, it looked genuine”. 

Argyle and Eden’s scene is showing love at first sight, and exploring the comedic and non-realistic element to it. And we have a season three parallel to a certain pair that ditch their friends to.. um.. hang out.. just like Argyle and Eden do in the Surfer Boy Pizza van. 

slightly delusional points:

Something that sticks out to me is that in Suzie’s bedroom, Mike is the only one who does not sit down, which makes me think he felt uncomfortable in the house. Why would he not be comfortable, unless he had recently discovered somethings about himself in the months the Byers had been gone from Hawkins. Mike actively avoids any eye contacts with Suzie's father on the stairs when the group leave the study and pushes himself away from her father, almost hurling himself over the banister, when the rest of the group look him in the face and don't feel the need to physically be miles away.

While the group are hovering over the computer, Jonathan makes the comment of “maybe it’s hidden in the code somehow”. Codes have been used in the past such as the “when blue and yellow meet in the West”, this reads as a sign to look further into everything, just as we’ve been doing.

Some non-byler parallels that I think are interesting:

The kids cooking are adding salt into a pot of water - the sensory deprivation tank El uses 

The group needing to get into a room in an attic - Vecna being in the Creel’s attic and the Hawkins group getting into the attic 

The father needing to be distracted so the group can get into the attic - Dustin, Eddie and Max distracting Vecna so the Hawkins group can get into the attic

The fire in the kitchen - the fire in the Creel’s attic

apologies if any of this is incoherent, its very late and im very tired, but thanks for reading if you got this far! 

[panandinpain0]

eddie x male reader who's the middle child of the byers family? (like a year younger than jonathan or something. he can be the oldest too if the ages don't work). maybe an au where eddie survives so they meet when they get back from california (or just an au where they didn't move to Cali and he goes to hawkins high). will joins the hellfire club and they need a sub for a campaign so will begs his brother to go and flirting with eddie munson ensues. he's an artist which is what he mostly bonds over with will and eddie asks him to draw something for their next campaign perhaps? (reader might also have a crush on eddie and some pictures he drew of him in his sketchbook). sorry if this is too much random stuff

Old D&D Buddies

No, no, no, it's not too much random stuff! I love all of these ideas and am SO EXCITED to write them! Tysm for requesting!

Requested by: Anon

Eddie Munson x Male!Byers!Reader

The reader will be the oldest Byers brother because (after a quick google search) I've learned that Jonathan is 18 and Eddie Munson is around 21. So if the reader was a year younger than Jonathan he'd be 17 and that's just going into illegal territory. (But I loved the idea, being a middle child myself.) So the reader is 20.

This doesn't really follow s4 at all, but the Byers just moved back from Cali and Will joined Hellfire!

Warnings: Swearing

I hope you like it!!!

(Reading this back over I realize that it really isn't inclusive for the reader to be biologically related to the Byers (poc and many other situations). I realize this and I'm sorry, but I'm so tired and I don't have the energy to re-write this. If anyone specifically wants a more inclusive version of this I could definitely try writing it another day. Again, I'm sorry.)

Enjoy!

--

Will opened the door to the Byers' residence, shutting it behind him and letting his backpack drop to the floor. Taking off his jacket he hung it by the door, walking into the kitchen where his brother's were hanging out.

Jonathan was going through a pile of photos he had taken at the table, holding some over to (Y/N) for him to see. (Y/N), on the other hand, was going through some work papers. He'd started a job as a mechanic when they had moved back to Hawkins. Back in California he'd gotten the job to help support their family, but he'd grown to love the work. (Especially the amount of time off all the employee's got.) He found a place in Hawkins and started working there.

"Hey kiddo, how was school?" (Y/N) asked as Will walked in, patting his back as he walked past the table.

"It was good! We have a D&D meeting tomorrow, too!" Will informed as he opened the fridge, looking for a snack.

"That's cool. Are you excited?" Jonathan asked quietly as he pulled out his camera, adjusting the settings a bit.

"Yeah. Lucas might not be able to make it and Eddie is making us scour around to find a replacement." Will laughed a bit as he sat down with a bowl of cereal.

"Oh, have you found anyone?" Jonathan asked as he held the camera up to his eyes, checking the settings.

"...(Y/N), you used to help me with D&D, didn't you?" Will asked, spoon hovering above the bowl and dripping with milk.

"Smile" Jonathan cut in before (Y/N) could respond.

Both brothers looked over at the camera and instantly put on smiles. Jonathan did this a lot, so they'd gotten used to it. It was sweet, seeing his walls lined with random family pictures.

"Yeah, I did," (Y/N) responded, flipping through some papers in his pile.

"Would you be willing to be the sub player?" Will asked eagerly, eyes lighting up as he leaned forward a bit.

"Me?" (Y/N) laughed a bit. "I haven't played in years."

"But you have a character, don't you?" Will continued to pester. He shoved the bite of cereal in his mouth, realizing the pieces would get soggy if he left them floating in the milk for too long.

"Yes, I do. He's really old, though, I haven't played with him in years."

"The... the elf one, right?" Jonathan asked, raising his eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, Huelen," (Y/N) responded, nodding. "How did you remember?" He looked up at Jonathan, hands stilling with the paper's in them.

"You used to draw him a lot in your old sketchbook. That's where you drew Will the Wise for Will, too," he explained, shrugging while rifling through his bag.

"It's what first got me drawing," Will remembered, eating more of his food.

Joyce entered the kitchen, holding some plates in her hands as she smiled at her sons.

"Hey, boys!" she greeted, putting the plates in the sink.

"Hey Mom," the boys all said in unison, smiling at their mom.

"Jonathan, please stop leaving dirty plates in your room, you'll attract pests," Joyce requested, coming over and rubbing (Y/N)'s shoulder as she skimmed the paper's in his hand.

"Sorry, Mom. I'll clean them up next time."

"So, will you, (Y/N)?" Will reminded them all of the topic at hand.

"Tomorrow?"

"Mhm!"

"...What time?"

Will smiled, knowing he had hooked (Y/N).

"After school. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, I have an early shift tomorrow. It'll be fun!" (Y/N) wiggled his eyebrows as he stood up, taking his papers and putting it in his work bag.

"Oh, are you going with Will to the D&D club tomorrow?" Joyce asked, sitting down next to Jonathan and looking through his pictures.

"Hellfire, Mom," Will reminded, slurping up his cereal.

"Yeah, Hellfire," Joyce redeemed.

"Apparently. The little punk roped me into it," (Y/N) teased, ruffling Will's hair as he sat back down.

"You should bring your old sketchbook! You have a lot of characters in there, I'm sure the other boys would love it. Would they, Will?" Joyce suggested, looking at Will to see if they would.

"Oh yeah, Dustin used to gush over them all the time. You should bring 'em." Will nodded.

"Alright, it's a plan. I've got to go run these back to the garage, I'll be back by dinner!" (Y/N) announced as he picked up his bag, kissing his mom on the cheek and waving to his brothers.

"It's lasagna!"

(Y/N) hummed in satisfaction at his mother's reply.

...

Eddie was setting up the table, putting the pieces where they had been arranged at their last session, mind turning with ideas for plot twists he could add.

He was just relieved that Will found someone to take Sinclair's place, or else they would all be screwed. And because he was so relieved he neglected to ask who it was, not that it mattered. If they could play and had a character, he could work with it.

The boys all arrived in a large group, backpacks slung over their shoulders. A taller man followed behind Will, laughing at a joke one of the boys had made.

"Welcome to Hellfire!" Eddie dramatically exclaimed, gesturing widely to the table.

They laughed and took their usual seats, but the guest stayed standing. When Eddie made eye contact his eyes widened in shock.

"...Munson?" (Y/N) asked after a moment, surprise covering his own features.

"Wait, you two already know each other?" Will asked, glancing between his brother and Dungeon Master.

"Yeah, we used to go to school here together," (Y/N) responded, breaking eye contact to look at Will. "When you said 'Eddie', I didn't think you meant Eddie Munson."

"Well, I didn't know you knew him!" Will defended, shrugging.

"We do know each other, we used to play together back when we were beginners," Eddie finally spoke, walking forward and holding out a hand to (Y/N). "How's it going, Byers?"

(Y/N) took his hand, shaking it strongly, "Just fine. Still in highschool, I see," he teased.

"Ha-ha," Eddie deadpanned, quickly letting go and turning around theatrically. "Take your seat, peasant. I do hope you brought Huelen with you, he's the most important thing."

Rolling his eyes (Y/N) sat next to Will, "I'm surprised you remember his name."

"Well, who could forget a name like that?" Eddie asked rhetorically. He sat in his chair and made eye contact with (Y/N) over his DM's screen, his eyes sparkling with amusement. In this moment Eddie cherished his hair for hiding the tips of his ears, which were turning red. "Let's get started, shall we?"

The table broke out into a roar of excitement, making (Y/N) snicker and pull out his old folder.

...

(Y/N) was laughing so hard tears rolled down his cheeks, his hand shaking as he tried to reach out for the dice on the table.

Dustin, who was cackling across from him doubled over more as he failed to pick up the dice yet again.

Everyone was having loads of fun, something (Y/N) hadn't really had in a while.

(Y/N) finally took the dice and made his roll.

"Unfortunately, Elf Huelen, that roll wasn't high enough. The effects of it, I'm afraid, I won't be able to share until next session," Eddie announced, standing up as everyone groaned, outraged.

"But I won't be here next session," (Y/N) reminded, looking up at Eddie with a questioning look.

"Says who?" Eddie smugly shot back, starting to clean up his things.

(Y/N) scoffed and shook his head, looking to the other players who were all looking at him expectantly. "Wait- you want me back?"

"Yes!" they all shouted as if it was the dumbest question anyone had ever asked.

"It's not like we can't add another playing space," Eddie said. He and (Y/N) shared a look, knowing he wasn't the first one to speak that sentence.

About three years ago, during (Y/N)'s Junior year at Hawkins High, he sat in a room with some classmates. The D&D board was set up around them and he eagerly listened as the more experienced members explained the game to him. A knock came from the door, and Eddie (who was in his first round of Senior year) looked into the room.

"Hey, this is where the D&D club is, right?" he asked confidently, though (Y/N) noticed his hands were shaking.

"Yeah," one of the other's responded.

"Can I join?"

"There are too many players-"

"It's not like we can't add another playing space," (Y/N) had responded to them. He had learned enough that session to know that "more the merrier" was very true in this game.

Eddie had given him a thankful smile and taken a seat next to him.

"Is it the same time every week?" (Y/N) asked, knowing it was a day he had off annualy.

At the nods of conformation he shrugged.

"Fuck it, I'm in."

They cheered and stood up, collecting their players and helping Eddie put away the pieces.

"Hey, you brought your old sketchbook, didn't you?" Will reminded, catching everyone's attention.

"Oh, yeah. I have some old character drawings in here from when I used to play," (Y/N) explained as he pulled out the clearly loved book. He flipped to a good page and showed the younger kids.

"I remember you showing us these!" Dustin exclaimed, even Mike getting pumped over the drawings.

Eddie leaned over their shoulders, looking at the drawings.

"Those are fantastic, Byers. Why haven't I seen these before?" Eddie asked, looking up at (Y/N) for an explanation.

"Hey, we got to go, see you guys next time!" Gareth said as he waved and the boys left.

"I'll meet you in the car," Will said, jogging off with his friends. He knew (Y/N) wanted some time to catch up with Eddie.

"Well, you never asked," (Y/N) shrugged after nodding to Will.

Eddie sat down in his throne as (Y/N) leaned back against the table next to him.

"These are great!"

Eddie was so immersed in the drawings that he forgot to ask before flipping through the pages.

"Wait-!" (Y/N) exclaimed, but he was too late. The next few pages were filled with Eddie's face. The way his hair fell, the look on his face when he was concentrating on the current battle. His eyes were sharp in every one of them, and Eddie sucked in a breath. He'd never been depicted this way, and he loved it.

"Is this..."

"I'm sorry- I didn't-" (Y/N) started fumbling, ripping the book from his hands and stuffing it in his bag, not looking at Eddie.

"Don't be- it's... I felt it too," he mumbled back. That simple phrase communicated to (Y/N) that he wasn't the only one who looked at his favorite D&D buddy like he was his whole world.

(Y/N)'s face heated as his mouth parted slightly, eyes wide as he sucked in a breath.

Gulping down his nerves, (Y/N) smiled awkwardly. "Will's waiting for me. I should get going."

Eddie nodded and stood up, looking at (Y/N) like he wanted to say something.

"I... would you draw some of the characters from today? The party really needs more visual aid."

They both knew that wasn't really what he wanted to say, but (Y/N) nodded nonetheless.

"Yeah! Of course. Will and I can both work on it, he draws almost better than I do," he laughed a little too hard. (Y/N)'s heart was beating so fast he could barely concentrate on breathing.

"See you next session."

"See you."

(Y/N) sped out of the room, shaking his head and scolding himself. He couldn't believe that Eddie had seen the sketches of him. And his response? Ugh. (Y/N) dismissed the thoughts aggressively in his head and walked to his car, opening the door and climbing in.

"Woah, are you okay? Your face is really red," Will immediately asked, alarmed at his brother's shading.

"Yeah, I'm fine," (Y/N) quickly responded, shaking his head and starting his car. He pulled back and maneuvered out of the parking lot.

Will stared at him for a second longer before smirking. "So you know Eddie?"

(Y/N) bit his lip for a moment.

"He asked us to draw some of the characters for the campaign. You in?" he glanced over at Will before returning his eyes to the road.

"Uh, duh. But you didn't answer my question." He wasn't going to let (Y/N) off the hook, and they both knew it.

"We... uhm- used to play D&D together, with the old group. My last two years of highschool, actually," (Y/N) explained hesitantly. "I-" he cleared his throat- "had a huge crush on him. I drew him a lot and he just found the sketches."

"Had?" Will repeated.

"That's enough from you," (Y/N) scolded, glaring teasingly at Will.

End

--

Am I baiting you for a part 2? Honestly, I'm not really sure myself.

Am I too tired to continue this? That's just a fact.

Idk if I'll write a part 2, do you guys want one?

Lemme know

-Author Max <3

[fandoms-in-law]

Nancy had mentioned it once, and Jonathan had actually sought Steve out to ask if he could help. Apparently the Byers hadn’t been able to find a good winter hat Will liked and were getting concerned he’d get unwell if he didn’t have one. The temperature had already been falling and Steve got the need to keep all the kids wrapped up warm; Of course when asked he was going to make sure all the kids had warm woolly hats to wear.

Plus given he’d gotten them only just in time for the eve of Christmas eve, Steve had an excuse to give everyone silly hats too, cheap Santa hats or reindeer headbands and the like, if they’d fit into the tin, otherwise he’d sit them next to it and claim the tin was empty until one of the brats insisted on opening it. He was certain one of them would.

What was even better was that he and Robin had managed to convince Keith to shut Family Video for 3 days, badgering him with Weather Reports and wishes that they could all spend the Christmas time with their friends and family. Robin had struck gold with the factoids that Boxing day actually was when workers were meant to visit their homes and families in olden times and who would be wanting videos on Christmas Eve, anyway?

Steve was very much relaxing through his final shift before that break when all seven of his kids filed in. “Okay, girls get light hearted Christmas films, Mike and Lucas, get action or horror films you think he’ll let us have, Will and I will get today’s treats sorted out.” Dustin instructed, ignoring that Erica followed him and Will instead of listening to the instructions.

“Treats are there, couldn’t get them to fit without breaking today.” Steve called out, gesturing to the Christmassy gift bag he’d used instead.

“Really? You manage for every other day but now you give up?” Dustin judged him, reaching into the bag anyway and pulling a face at the hat one of Santa elves might wear being pulled out.

Steve raised his hands to imply his innocence. “Dude, if you want to wear broken headbands, or see your friends who get them have cut ears from snapped plastic, that’s your choice. They didn’t fit and I wasn’t gonna break them to fit.”

“Head bands?” El asked, placing a couple of videos down and coming to look through the bag, “I can be Rudolph! Dad was telling me that story last night.”

“Yep, you can.” Steve grinned as she quickly put the headband on.

Will looked through the bag curiously for a moment before pulling out a Santa hat. “Still a bit thin but this’ll keep my ears warmer than they have been. It’s a bit itchy though.”

“Mini Byers,” Steve begins immediately, but pauses, not wanting to put the focus on him too much. He turns to Dustin instead, “How long have you been a shithead and let Will go without a hat? I know you have a couple at least.”

“He didn’t ask to borrow one.” Dustin protested but looked guilty as he realised that shouldn’t have stopped the offer being made.

Steve huffed, even as Will had a small smile at the reaction.

“If you’re going to strop over whatever reaction Dustin had to your gifts can you at least sort our rentals on these out?” Mike demanded where he was waiting with more videos piled beside the ones El and Max had fetched.

He didn’t need the glance to know too many of their choices wouldn’t be suitable for a bunch of traumatised kids to watch , “No I can’t. Show me and I’ll say which you get.”

“Are you sure the tin is empty?” Lucas asked while Steve did that. He had pulled another elf hat out of the bag but was looking from Dustin and Will to the music tin before reaching for it. “Steve’s done a lot I wouldn’t expect with this so I’m gonna check.”

Steve grinned, focusing on going through the videos still but enjoying the indignant noises Dustin let out getting louder when the actual winter hats fell out. “Something for Christmas and something practical.” He quipped, handing over the videos to Mike, who was looking over, clearly wanting to claim his treats now.

“Thanks Steve, I’m clearly the leader of the group,” Erica called out, reindeer antlers on her head and a purple hat in her hands, while everyone debated over which was best, seeming set on ensuring Will got it now.

“Gotta keep you nerds warm, don’t I?” He nodded, watching them contently.

The Advent Music Box

Author's note: Doing this on a whim and the fact work gave me the music box inspiring this

Summary: Steve is sent a care package from his parents at the start of December

/\

It started with a music box.

Steve’s parents had sent him a care package that arrived on the first of December and in it was some snacks, a few items clearly intended as Christmas presents and the music box.

There was a sticker on it saying there were cookies inside it too but he took most of the morning to figure out that instead of taking a lid off like most tins needed, he had to remove the bottom of the music box.

That was what gave him the idea to fill it and challenge the kids to get the treats from inside. Since they didn’t actually go to his house very often he took it into Family Video, sure at least one of the kids would turn up sooner or later.

Perhaps he could even swing seeing them every day if he said he’d fill it with at least something small for them each day.

[storybookwolf]

Here's my contribution to @jancyweek2022 day 2 - childhood

The Elder Tree Campaign

September 1979

‘On behalf of her people, the Elven Princess thanks the Party for saving the Elder Tree’s forest from the rampaging Dracolich. In recognition of their courage, she bestows gifts on all of them and pledges her unending loyalty … she also vows to do all their chores for the next week, and to quit hogging the bathroom all the time.’

‘MIKE!’ Nancy glared at her little brother. ‘Shouldn’t “the Party” be thanking the Elven Princess for helping them with their campaign?’

He rolled his eyes and sighed theatrically. ‘Fine,’ he huffed. ‘The Party refused the Princess’s gifts, saying that seeing her people safe and happy is all the reward they need, and thanked her for her loyalty and assistance.’

‘…Then the Princess replied, “You’re very welcome,” and returned to her tower,’ Nancy said. She skipped up the stairs two at a time, eager to change out of her costume, which had started to itch about two hours into the campaign. It had been fun, though, dressing up and playing with the little kids. She’d be mortified if anyone from school found out, since being in 6th grade apparently meant you couldn’t do anything remotely babyish, and were just supposed to talk about pop music and clothes and which boys you liked. Those things were fun, but so was pretending to rescue elf villagers from a zombie dragon. (Nancy could just imagine the way Carol Perkins, who actually wore makeup to school, would sneer at that.)

Just as she was thinking how glad she was no one from school could see her now, in last year’s ballet recital dress and a homemade flower crown, with little cones of paper on the top of each ear to make them pointy, the door at the top of the stairs opened and she nearly crashed into someone from her class. Not just any someone. A boy.

Jonathan Byers.

Nancy felt her face get hot, and just knew she was blushing like crazy. Then she saw that Jonathan’s face was also red. Oh god, did she look like such an idiot that he was embarrassed for her? Even though he wasn’t the cutest or most popular boy in her class, he was pretty nice, and she definitely didn’t want him to think she was a baby.

‘Sorry! I didn’t mean to walk right into you. I’m just here to pick up Will.’ Jonathan looked down at his feet, then back up at her, taking in her costume. ‘Are you … an elf?’

The burning in her cheeks intensified, and a knot formed in her stomach. ‘Yeah … I was helping the kids with their Dungeons and Dragons game.’

Jonathan smiled. ‘That’s so cool! Will’s always talking about how great your brother’s campaigns are. It sounds really fun. Maybe … maybe I could play too, sometime? With Mike and Will and you.’

The knot loosened as she took in how genuine his smile was. It started to feel more like butterflies. ‘That’d be really nice,’ she said, suddenly shy.

‘Cool,’ said Jonathan. He was still blushing, which made her butterflies flutter more intensly.

‘Cool.’

‘I should—’ Jonathan pointed past her, down the stairs, and she let him pass, noticing how the light glinted off his hair. Maybe he wasn’t the cutest boy in her class, but he was still kind of nice to look at. And he definitely wasn’t going to make fun of her for playing D and D with their little brothers.

She floated up to her room, imagining what type of campaign they might go on, and what monsters they might battle together.

[circethesinner]

the puppeteer ✿ it's here - chapter 11 ✿

pairing: steve harrington x original female character (can be read as x reader)

warning(s): strong language, descriptions of violence, mature themes 

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As soon as they'd pulled up to the station, Bambi had spotted the cop she'd elbowed earlier that day through the window. Fortunately, he appeared to be alone.

"Give me a sec," She told the other two in the car with her.

Leaving Eleven behind with the kids at the school had been tough, but she'd given her another huge hug and a kiss on the head and promised she'd only be gone for a little while, and she'd be back for her as soon as possible.

Bambi reached out and made a connection with the cop whose name Bambi remembered to be Callahan. His mind was incredibly easy to get into. Some people had tougher minds, they took a lot of strength and effort to break into and control, but with people like Callahan, it was almost pathetic how easy it was.

With no time to waste, she stood up and walked directly to Hopper's office, where she collected the box of gear they'd purchased. On her way out, she paused and grabbed the fire extinguisher as well. Being in the body of a grown man, it was significantly easier to carry both things at once than it would have been in her body.

She walked straight to Jonathan's car, where she opened the back door and placed the box and fire extinguisher in the back seat next to her vacated body.

"Anything else?" She asked Nancy and Jonathan as she leant down. They exchanged wary looks and shook their heads. With a final nod, Bambi walked back to the station and sat down in the seat she'd found Callahan in and left his mind, dragging the past three minutes back with her. He'd remember nothing.

Back in her own body, Bambi pulled the tissue Jonathan had given her earlier that day out and wiped the blood from her nose.

"He was so easy to get into. Usually, there's a little bit of a pushback from people as their thoughts kind of push me out, but it was like cutting through butter with that man," Bambi chuckled as she stuffed the tissue back into her pocket. "Seriously, it's like he's never had a single thought a day in his life. Usually, I can only control someone for about five minutes, but I could have gone a whole hour in that head of his, I swear."

"And he won't remember anything?" Nancy asked, looking back at her.

"Not a thing," Bambi nodded. "Honestly, I'm surprised he even remembers his own name, and that's without me interfering with anything."

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The trio made quick work of screwing the bulbs back into the fairy lights and setting up the bear trap for the monster the kids had referred to as the 'Demogorgon', a term Bambi recognised from the few sessions of Dungeons & Dragons she'd gotten a chance to participate in with a group of people back at school. Bambi fought away the yearning to be back there, playing as her Cleric Elf character, where her biggest concern was trying to convince the other players that she was totally not in a cult while simultaneously trying the entire campaign to get them to join the thing that was totally not a cult. Life had been easier back at home.

But now, instead of fighting little monster figurines where you could leave your fate in your dice, she was fighting an actual horrifying monster who was very hungry for blood.

The plan was to lure the Demogorgon there and trap it in the bear trap, then set it on fire. There were flaws in their plan, but it was the best they could come up with, given their resources and time limit. If push came to shove, Bambi would try and control the monster's mind. She hoped push wouldn't come to shove since she already felt a little weak after using her powers twice that day following her long stretch of barely using them at all, but she was prepared in case it did come to that.

Bambi had a croquet mallet that the Byers had lying around in their shed, and Jonathan had done the honours of hammering nails into the head of it so it would pack a harder punch. It wasn't an ideal weapon, but she'd reiterated how shit of a shot she was with a gun, and they only had one baseball bat, so it would do. Bambi was just reinforcing the stick with as much duct tape as she could wrap around it, worried that the force she'd have to swing it at would just snap it if she weren't careful.

The smell of gasoline stuck in Bambi's throat. If the anxiety wasn't making her stomach churn, then that certainly was. But she had no time to dwell on that. It was time to execute their plan.

"Remember-" Jonathan started.

"Straight into Will's room, and-" Nancy continued.

"Don't step on the trap." Bambi finished.

"Wait for the yo-yo to move," Nancy added.

"Then..." Jonathan flicked his lighter. "All right. You both ready?" Bambi and Nancy both nodded in confirmation. They all drew their knives to their palms, having decided earlier that it was easier for them to all go ahead and draw blood. The more blood, the better the chances it would lure the monster to them. "On three... One... two... You two don't have to do this-"

"Jonathan, stop talking," Nancy interrupted.

"We're all in this together," Bambi sighed. She wanted to get this over with.

"I'm just saying, you guys don't have to-" Jonathan protested again.

"Three!" Nancy interrupted again, and together they sliced their hands and let the blood drip onto the floor. That would be a nasty stain to clean up later, but then again, the fire damage would probably be a hell of a lot worse. She'd have to offer to help Joyce fix up the house again if she made it out alive.

They sat down and bandaged their hands up as they waited. Bambi was in charge of that. She'd once taken the memory of a first-aid course one of the scientists back at the lab had taken in college. Fortunately, it had gone unnoticed, and it had been quite humorous to see the scientist fumble over trying to wrap a bandage around another scientist's arm a few months later. Bambi had a feeling the skill would be required once she was out, and now she was thankful that she had taken it.

Outside, the wind caused something to creak softly. Every sound put them on edge, Nancy in particular. Bambi couldn't blame her. She'd just found out the monster had killed her best friend. It was only natural for her to be more on edge.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy asked, looking around.

"I'm pretty sure it was just the wind," Bambi mumbled, though she still felt uneasy.

"Don't worry." Jonathan's voice was shaky, a contradiction to the words he'd just said. "My mom, she said the lights speak when it comes."

"Speak?" Nancy asked. Bambi felt a little better as she imagined the lights all chiming out 'the monster is here!' in tiny little voices.

"Blink." Jonathan corrected. "Think of them as alarms." Bambi finished wrapping up Jonathan's hand and pretended again not to notice when Nancy had picked it up afterwards. She understood why Steve thought the two may have been in a relationship behind his back. There was definitely some sort of chemistry there that made Bambi feel incredibly awkward as the third wheel.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Steve's voice suddenly called out from the door as he banged on it, causing quite the fright amongst the three teens.

"Jonathan? Are you there, man? It's- it's Steve!" The trio cast concerned looks at one another. Steve had to get the hell out of there and do it fast. "Listen, I just want to talk!" Nancy got up to answer the door.

"Steve, listen to me." She told him. He tried to protest, but she stopped him from getting too far. "You need to leave."

"I'm not trying to start anything, okay?" Steve denied.

"I don't care about that," Nancy told him firmly. "You need to leave."

"No, no, no! Listen, I messed up, okay? I messed- I messed up. Okay? Really. Please. I just want to make things right. Okay? Please. Please-" Steve begged. Bambi almost felt sorry for him... Almost. "Hey, what happened to your hand? Is that blood?"

"Nothing!" Nancy tried to brush it off. "It was an accident."

"Shit. Here we go...." Bambi whispered, quiet enough for only Jonathan to hear. She stood up to stand behind Nancy at the door. She hadn't opened it enough for Steve to see her.

"What's going on?" Steve asked as Nancy tried to tell him that nothing was going on. "Wait a sec. Did he do this to you? Nancy, let me in!"

"No! No, Steve!" Nancy tried to push him away, but Steve barged past and came tumbling through the door, directly into Bambi, who stumbled back and rubbed her head which she'd hit on his jaw.

"Motherfucker!" Bambi cursed, glaring at him. He looked apologetic for a second before he looked around the house at the shitshow they'd set up.

"What is- What the-" Steve stammered. Bambi pushed on his chest to try and get him to walk backwards and leave.

"Okay, pretty boy, time to get out," She rolled her eyes, but he pushed her hand away.

"What is all-" Steve started to ask again. Jonathan took over, trying to get him to leave. He was a lot more forceful than Bambi had been.

"You need to get out of here." Jonathan tried to push him away, but Steve fought him off. "Listen to me. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you, get out of here!"

"What is that smell?" Steve asked, taking a few more steps into the room. "Is that- is that gasoline?" Bambi turned her head as she heard a gun cock.

"Steve, get out!" Nancy was holding a gun to Steve. Bambi felt a swirl of emotions. She was impressed Nancy had the guts to do that, but she was also fucking terrified that something would go wrong, and then they'd end up with a dead teen boy on their hands as well as a monster.

"Wait! What?" Steve shouted. He looked terrified. No doubt his life was flashing before his eyes. Based on the fact that Bambi could somehow smell his hairspray over the smell of gasoline, she assumed it was at least 50% made up of him styling his hair. "What is going on?"

"You have five seconds to get out of here," Nancy demanded.

"Okay, is this a joke? Stop!" Steve held his hands out in self-defence, not that they'd stop a bullet. "Put the gun down."

"I'm doing this for you." As Nancy spoke, the lights started flashing.

"Right on fucking time!" Bambi groaned as Jonathan tried to get Nancy's attention, but she was lost in her own world as she counted down the time Steve had left to get out.

"Nancy! The lights." Jonathan managed to catch her attention, and she brought the gun down, looking around to confirm. "It's here." Jonathan lunged to grab his bat as Bambi jumped over the coffee table to get her mallet, she knocked a glass over, but that was the least of her worries. Nancy and Jonathan circled around, back to back, as they looked for any sign of the monster. Bambi did her best to get in front of Steve, but she had no idea where the monster would be coming from, so she had no idea what direction she needed to protect him from.

"Hello? Will someone, please explain to me what the hell is going-" Steve was interrupted as the monster emerged from the corner of the room. Bambi grabbed Steve's arm while Nancy tried to shoot at it, though it seemed to be unbothered by the bullets as it dropped down from the ceiling.

"Go! Go! Run! Go!" Jonathan shouted as he led the way. Bambi didn't need to be told twice as she dragged Steve along behind them, shouting at him to jump over the bear trap.

He may have been an ass, but there was no way she was about to let him die... Hopefully.

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enemies to lovers but it's just bambi deciding steve is her enemy and he has no idea because him little head empty no thoughts sweet baby :)

likes are very much appreciated and I will give each and every one of you little kisses on the forehead for each comment you write :)

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@missyviolet123

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms | Hawkins Crew

Prompt: Going Inside a Book/Story

Words: 3166

Fandom: Stranger Things

A/N: Writer’s Month is over, but I’m still going to try and finish this, just three more prompts to go. I’m drawing from my limited knowledge of DnD 5th edition and light research on 1st edition, so if some of it isn’t accurate, how many people would actually know the difference between 5th and 1st? Also, while trying to wrap up the ending, it gave ‘Welcome to Jumanji’ vibes and I pictured a Nigel character popping up, but still looks like Rhys Darby. Lol look at me creating lore for a world that I might not visit again. Or won’t I?

Summary: The older group decides to play DnD, much to Eddie’s delight. A sudden storm cut off the electricity in the middle of a session, but when they looked around to find that they weren’t in Hawkins anymore.

-

Eddie rubbed his hands together gleefully like an evil mastermind as his new friends finished their character sheets. He had minis that he had painted in his spare time that were close enough to what they wanted their characters to look like, each of them standing right in front of each player. 

Nancy was more familiar with the mechanics since the kids usually played in the basement, having picked it up quickly and helping the others when they needed it. Jonathan had admitted that Will spoke about their campaigns but never really broke down the mechanics unless he asked him. Robin was catching on, piecing her character together in no time. That left Steve who was frowning at his sheet before sliding it over to Eddie. Dustin had actually helped him build his character beforehand, but he wasn’t sure how to play him.

“Does this look… right?” Steve asked after filling out his character’s backstory.

Eddie leaned over, eagerly scanning through his character sheet and smiled. “Steve, Stevie, Steve-O. I feel like you’ve thought this character through before.”

“Ah, well,” Steve muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his pencil. “Henderson’s always wanted me to play with them, so… the roleplaying part is kind of… I don’t know.”

“Embarrassing?”

Steve nodded. “This is why I didn’t take drama, man.”

“Well, you should have, or else you wouldn’t be having this problem,” Robin said, giving him a pointed look. “And maybe you would have been less of a douche in high school.”

“Thank you so much, Robin, I appreciated your needed input,” Steve replied sarcastically.

“Hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere,” Eddie said, patting Steve’s shoulder. “This is everyone’s first game, so we’re gonna take it easy and learn how the game works together. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. DMs love questions, unless they’re dumb.”

“I guess Steve can’t ask anything then.”

“You know what, Buckley, I’m not going to be driving you around anymore.”

“Nice try, dingus. This whole time you still drove me to school and work when you thought I had a license. There’s no way you’re going to suddenly stop giving me rides.”

“Anyways,” Eddie interrupted, “Superior Wheeler. Big Byers. How are your characters coming along?”

“We’re just about finished,” Nancy said.

Jonathan nodded. “Yeah, we figured that it’ll be easier if our characters know each other so we’d have someone to bounce off on.”

“It’s a very common method to do and helps with backstories,” Eddie said, nodding in approval. “What race and class are you?”

“Nance is a high elf ranger and I’m thinking of being a drow rogue.”

“Interesting. Very interesting.” Eddie folded his fingers together and rested his chin on them. “Drows are usually lawful evil aligned, but for my campaigns, I’m not too strict on those things as long as it creates a good story. To have a high elf and a drow know each other, that’s really interesting. Buckley.”

Robin held up her character sheet and shook it. “I think I’ve made it more complicated than it had to be. I made a Forest Gnome Wizard. It’s complicated for me because I just realized how many spells I have to manage. But we’re just level one, right? So, it shouldn’t be that bad for now, but, like, I’ve done this whole backstory that is too similar to Batman.”

Eddie nodded sagely. “Many players, no matter how seasoned they are, have done this. It’s an easy trope to fall on, but if you add your own twist to it, it could work.”

“What if when she talks to animals, instead of the high pitch tone people use, it’s gruffy like a heavy smoker?”

Jonathan snorted. “Is your voice going to be okay after that?”

“See, I made it harder on myself than it should be.”

“What if you made your character’s normal voice high pitched and when you speak to animals it's at a normal pitch?” Steve said, holding back a smile.

Robin scrunched her face. “That’s even worse.”

“I am not going to sit through a two hour session with that voice,” Nancy said firmly.

“Thank you, Nance.”

“Oh! Why didn’t I think of this?” Steve said, facepalming. “The kermit voice!”

“No! I told you to drop that already!” Robin shouted. “What’s your character anyways, dingus? I bet it’s boring.”

Steve glared at her from across the table. “Human Paladin,” he muttered.

“See. Boring.”

“Hey, now. We haven’t started playing yet,” Eddie tried to mediate. “If everyone’s ready, we can begin.” He held his hands out, eyeing them all. When they all nodded, he clapped his hands. “Alright, let me set the scene for you, adventurers.”

-

“Uh, guys, I don’t know if we should be going in a super scary tower without a plan,” Robin pointed out.

“Haunted, too,” Steve added.

“Yeah. Super scary haunted tower.”

“The guy at the tavern said that something strange is happening here. There’s people going missing and no one has ever used this tower in years until now,” Jonathan said.

Nancy nodded her head. “Exactly. Seeing light in the tower around the same time the first disappearance happened? There’s got to be a connection. We have to at least try.”

“Okay, so what do we know about this tower?” Robin looked down at her character sheet, then at Eddie. “With my wizardry background, would I know anything about this place?”

“Roll me a history check with advantage. You’re quite studious and one of the top of your class,” Eddie said, pointing at the D20 in front of her.

Robin nodded, shaking her hand and tossing the dice carefully. She grimaced, then rolled again, the corner of her lips turning up. “That’s an unnatural 20 for history.”

“Good. Yes, you have heard a considerable amount about this ancient wizard’s tower during your studies. He was a promising wizard that grew his power at an exponential rate. The academy was once proud to call him their own, but now they use him as a cautionary tale.”

Everyone leaned forward as Eddie unraveled the lore of the tower’s creator, Nancy furiously taking notes and Jonathan jotting down what stood out to him. Steve sat, memorized, as Eddie’s soothing voice wrapped around him, painting the picture in his mind. Robin nodded along with his words, pausing when she saw Steve staring at Eddie intensely, marking that down in her mental notes for later.

“He realized that the academy was limiting him. The prospect of harnessing dark magic grew more and more tempting by the day, haunting his dreams at night. It became too much when the academy was attacked. Their mistake was thinking that if they shielded their students from the darkness, they would never be harmed from it. As it were, you cannot protect yourself from something you have no knowledge of. The students fell one by one, overcome by power that they could not understand.”

He paused for effect, a thunderstorm with bad timing rumbled outside, causing the lights above to flicker. They all stiffened, looking up until the lights steadied. The younger kids were at Sinclairs, so they weren’t worried about them galavanting. After their stunt last time with the whole Vecna thing and running from the police, the parents of the Party made it a point to take turns having movie or game night at their houses. This also encouraged the older kids to spend more time together.

Eddie exhaled slowly, seeing the others doing the same as they tried to get back to the game. “Until, finally, our wizard fled into the restricted section of the library and poured through its knowledge. He casted a spell so great that it destroyed all of his surroundings, killing every enemy and every friend. There he stood, in the middle of the rubble, without a scratch on him. Though, he felt his blood boiling, his veins turning black, nails extending into claws, and his eyes bleeding. For a moment, his heart stopped. Within that moment, the power of the darkness took over and flooded his body with unsurmountable power.”

“Who is he?” Robin asked quietly, not wanting to break the atmosphere.

Eddie’s brown eyes scanned over the players as he smirked. Just as he opened his mouth, the power went down. There was a collective gasp around the table and shuffling as they reached over to each other to ground themselves.

“The backup generator isn’t kicking in,” Nancy said.

“You guys have a backup generator?” Robin asked incredulously, feeling Nancy stand up next to her. “Where are you going?”

“My dad was so paranoid about Russians stealing electricity all over the country that he bought this expensive generator thing,” Nancy explained, “He’s kind of late on that, though. There should be extra flashlights and candles somewhere over here if the kids hadn’t gotten to them yet.”

“Here,” Jonathan said, flicking on his lighter. 

He found Nancy and helped her look through the cabinets for the emergency supplies. Their eyes adjusted to the dim light, not finding anything familiar in their surroundings. Nancy frowned, reaching out to touch one of the side tables. Her fingers touched something and she tugged on Jonathan’s sleeve to come closer. She had found a candle and he quickly dislodged it from the table and lit it up.

“What the hell,” he muttered, touching the wall that was no longer covered in wallpaper, but cold stone bricks. “Guys?”

He turned and saw that Nancy had done quick work in finding the other candles, handing each of their friends one. Steve scanned the area, scanning the dark corners of the room before announcing that it was clear. Robin ran her hands along the walls until she found a wooden torch hanging from a metal sconce. Eddie, being tall enough to pull it out, brought it over to her to light up.

Now, with a brighter light source, the party could see what had become of the room. Eddie stumbled back with wide eyes, convinced for a moment that he had fallen asleep on the couch of the Wheelers basement and would wake up at any minute. Steve stepped towards the table that they were playing at, frowning as he lifted the object that was now on his chair. A sword. A frickin’ sword.

“We’re not in Hawkins anymore,” Eddie mused, looking at Robin.

“No shit,” she muttered, “What is this? This isn’t the Upside Down. No creepy vines or particles in the air.”

“It’s like we were taken into a dungeon,” Jonathan said, joining Steve at the table where he found a traveler’s pack and knives at his seat.

Nancy looked at the new items on the table, their character sheets and minis gone and replaced with their character items and clothing. She gingerly picked up her new crossbow, testing its weight and how to hold it. She turned to Robin who was flipping through a book filled with runes that she couldn’t understand. Robin’s blue eyes widened, her jaw dropping as she scanned through it.

“I understand what this is,” Robin said in disbelief, “I can read this.”

“Holy shit,” Eddie muttered, “Are we in the game? Not the type of level of immersion I was imagining. I was thinking more like LARP or something, but…”

His eyes caught the sight of a thick leather book, replacing his DM notes and Monster Manual. He ran his fingers along the embossing of the cover, a shiver running down his spine as a whisper tickled the back of his mind. So, the others were their characters, he presumed. Steve was a paladin, Robin a wizard, Nancy a ranger, and Jonathan a rogue. He usually played a bard, but this? This screamed warlock. So, who was his patron?

 A noise from above jolted everyone from their state of shock, Steve taking position in front of the group with his great sword held at the ready. Nancy grabbed the nearest bolt and took a minute to figure out how to load the crossbow.

Footsteps neared the top of the stone stairs ahead of them, a warm glow leaking underneath the wooden door. Steve gripped the hilt and planted his feet in anticipation before the footsteps moved away. He exchanged a look with Nancy and Jonathan before moving towards the stairs. Robin jerked forward.

“Be careful, dingus,” she hissed.

Steve grimaced and gave her a nod, making his steps light as possible as he ascended. As he drew closer to the door, he began to hear bustling and chatter outside, like a bar or something. He turned to look at the group with a frown, lowering his sword to peek through the crack of the door. It was a bar. Well, some medieval bar. Tavern, as Eddie would describe it.

He made his way back down and described what he saw. They agreed to go up together, changing their outfits and packing their things before moving. With all the weird shit that they had dealt with throughout the years, they knew it was best to just roll with it and find out what’s going on to stop it. Steve was at the front again with Eddie, Robin, and Nancy in the middle, and Jonathan at the back. They pulled over the hoods of their cloaks and walked out, the sound of the tavern hitting them full force.

“Ah, adventurers!” A man with a full blonde mustache exclaimed, getting up from his table with arms spread open. “I’ve been awaiting your arrival. I am Sir Arthur Calthorn.”

“Have you?” Eddie asked, stepping forward.

“Oh, yes, indeed, Edmund the Banished. I’ve sent a letter to your guild for aid. Have you read it?”

“Guys?” Nancy held out a piece of parchment that appeared in her hand towards them.

“No fucking way,” Eddie muttered as Robin took it from her. “This is the exact letter I wrote out for you guys at the start of the game.”

“So, what? We gotta deal with this evil wizard again?” Jonathan asked.

“Precisely, Pentaxl, known by many circles as Ghostwalker for his quiet deposition and silent and quick movements. Nance Swifttaker, the deadliest and most precise shot of all the realms, a pleasure to see you as always. Magenta Silvertongue, genius polyglot and one of the most powerful spellcasters to ever grace the academy.” The man, Calthorn, nodded over to Nancy and Robin before clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “And the brave Steven Oathkeeper, slayer of beasts and protector of man.”

“Why do you guys have cool introductions?” Eddie whined under his breath. Nancy smacked him in the shoulder, shaking her head.

“You must help us with the darkness that threatens to spread throughout the Forgotten Realms. If the darkness spreads, then all of humanity is lost.”

“Cool. This isn’t crazy at all,” Steve muttered, sharing a freaked out look with Robin.

“And what realm are we in exactly?” Robin asked.

“Abeir-Toril,” Eddie answered before Calthorn could say anything. “One of many planets that exists in the Torilian System or the Realmspace.”

“Sharp as always, Edmund the Banished,” Calthorn said, snapping his fingers.

Eddie grimaced. “Don’t call me Edmund.”

“We need to get back home,” Nancy said, bringing back the situation at hand. “We’re not from here.”

“Of course, Miss Swifttaker, but in order to return to your homeworld, you must complete this mission,” Calthorn said, nodding to the letter. “And a key will be granted to you to take you back. Now…”

He clapped his hands and the group was teleported outside of the tavern where horses and a carriage awaited them. They looked around at the bustling and seemingly thriving city that they found themselves in, a steady traffic of carriages through the main road, market stalls lining the other side of the street, layers upon layers of districts passed that, leading up to a grand building in the middle.

“Now, come along,” Calthorn urged, climbing into the carriage. “We will be needing to meet with the counsel before you five set off.”

“Uh, normally I wouldn’t get in the car with strangers, so what’s the call here?” Robin whispered.

“He said that we will be given a key once we stop the darkness or something,” Nancy said, “And it’ll take us home. Unless we find some other way to get back without having to deal with all of this… whether it’s some kind of dream or whatever, we just have to keep moving and stick together. That’s all we can do for now. If we gain more information about this place, we’ll know where to go next.”

“See, this is why Wheeler, sorry, Swifttaker, is the leader,” Eddie said with a grin. 

Jonathan nodded sagely. “So, who’s going in the carriage with the guy?”

“I’ll take one of the horses,” Steve offered, “I’m assuming that carriage can only fit four people, so…”

“I’ve got the crossbow, so I’ll take the other horse,” Nancy said.

“Okay, cool, but do you guys really think that we’ll be attacked in the middle of the city?” Robin asked, looking around. “Do you guys even know how to ride a horse?”

“I learned when I was little,” Steve said with a shrug.

Nancy nodded. “Me, too. It was during a rare Wheeler family vacation.”

“Ugh, rich people,” Eddie teased with a roll of his eyes. “I guess us peasants will take the fancy carriage, then. After you, m’lady.” 

He held a hand out to help Robin in and did the same for Jonathan, much to his amusement, after Jonathan squeezed Nancy’s hand and kissed her on the forehead. Eddie turned to Steve and smiled.

“Guard the carriage for us, won’t you, big boy?” he said with a wink.

“I don’t know, am I getting a kiss on the forehead, too?” Steve played along.

Eddie’s grin widened. He leaned forward and planted an obnoxiously wet kiss on his forehead before patting him on his reddening cheek. Nancy raised an eyebrow at Steve who looked dazed until she nudged his shoulder. Once everyone was in the carriage and the other two on the horses, the group set off for what Calthorn called the Guild Quarters.

“God, I feel like I’m going to wake up any minute, having fallen asleep because of how boring the campaign was,” Robin said, her eyes darting around out the window.

“Hey, you guys were totally enjoying it!” Eddie protested.

Jonathan sighed. “Just when I thought I’d seen everything.”

The carriage merged into the traffic, being carried away towards the center of the city. Nothing looked familiar to anyone except Eddie, who’s eyes kept getting impossibly bigger the deeper into the city they traveled, seeing the map he made come to life right before him.

“Well, whatever is happening, hopefully this is a cool send off for you three before you leave for college, huh?”

Eddie turned away, feeling something pinch in his mind. A low growl echoed through his brain, a cold feeling like tentacles wrapping around him made him flinch.

“Eddie,” a familiar voice purred.

[shippingfangirl013]

Ty for the tag friend!

Nickname: Um… for family it’s bug or Kaylabug and it’s just kinda stuck. And sometimes it’s KK, but only my siblings get that nickname privilege. I don’t really have one on here.

Height: y’all are gonna bully me. I’m 5 ft 1” 💀

Last thing I googled: “Was the word Fuck around in the 1940s? Was it used during WWII?” I’m a history graduate. Sue me. And I’m writing a WWII Byler fic where Will probably dies 🤪🥲

Song currently stuck in my head: I don’t know why but it’s that “you’re so vain” song that I keep hearing on TikTok and never looking up. That, and High Infidelity by Taylor Swift. And Girl at Home. Basically T Swift on repeat.

Followers: let’s just say, I have more on my Wattpad, Pinterest, and Instagram than I do on tumblr. I think I have 30? Idek. I don’t check, but I love all of you all the same! ❤️ thanks for following my lil gremlin self.

Wearing: black leggings, and my trashed white painting t-shirt, because I’m finishing Christmas gift paintings last minute. (This was a week ago at 4 am ok?)

Book/Movie that summarizes me:

Um… that’s a tough one. I don’t know that much summarizes me in all honesty.

Book: Published. . . Uhh Percy Jackson for the ADHD. And unpublished, probably Throne of a Thief (it’s my own unpublished book that I sort of horcruxed myself and friends of mine into the characters… and it’s been useful in delving into my personal trauma.)

Not sure on movies, so, I’ll go with both movies and TV shows?

Movie: Back to The Future trilogy

TV show: Stranger Things. I literally live in Middle of Nowhere - scenery is cornfields and woods- Indiana. My house? Is in the middle of the woods like the Byer’s Indiana home is. I just have horses too. It’s bad enough that I forget that the show is set in my state, I keep finding demogorgon hunter bumper stickers because Indiana peeps have really gotten into it. I have also… really gotten into it. And I like that the Duffers found Indiana so boring that we got the Upside Down after having to adjust for the show background. . . I’ve had too much supernatural shit happen in my life to not assume ghosts and stuff exist.

OH and Reign. The episode in S2 with Mary - where the song “Take Control of Who You Are” plays, that one helped me a lot when I went through a similar situation. (I don’t want to go in depth for fear of triggering someone else, but that really helped me find myself again.)

Favorite Song: I have too many. I’m gonna go with Girl at Home by Taylor Swift, because it’s been on repeat in my head. (I’m also writing a very sad Byler fic to that one. Basically it’s literal chaos and I like to cause my readers pain.) If we’re talking 80s, then it’s Twist of Fate because my pony is registered as “Twist of Fate” and I used that song for my last freestyle competition after 10 years of 4H.

Aesthetic: What’s that? No, but seriously, anything comfy? Like those cute twinkly string lights? And vibey led lights? That’s my bedroom. I have a mini couch and a reading nook by my window. If we’re talking Tumblr blog aesthetic, I don’t have one.

If we’re talking like- my aesthetic as a person? Dark Green pictures of trees when it rains. Toss some yeehaw cowgirl shit in- the cool y’alternative kind, mixed in with a lot of colors? Paint all over my hands half the time. Or charcoal. Add a splash of Nancy Wheeler’s wardrobe, pitch in my sister calling me a grandma, add in Adventurer extraordinaire bc I love hiking, gold earrings and necklaces- I like playing with them when I’m nervous. Idk pitch in some dark and light academia with tons of dusty but good smelling old history books, notebooks with love letters to friends and sketchbooks with doodles all the time - if it isn’t real paper I don’t feel like I’m writing, lab coats and chemistry and STEM, pitch in a rogue chaotic neutral half-elf 5 ft dnd character, and ‘oh you’re the horse girl from middle school’, toss a bunch of stray animals that I’ve adopted in, add a dash of hopeless romantic and that’s my aesthetic. It’s a hot mess is what it is.

Fav. author(s): This says a lot about a person. But also, I don’t know that I have one. There’s so many books on my To Read list, it’s crazy.

Rick Riordan- I grew up with Percy and it made me feel seen as someone with ADHD.

C.S. Lewis- I was hooked on Narnia, and I have my mom’s copies from when she was a kid. The covers are falling off, but now they just live in the series sleeve in my bookshelf.

Dream Job: Uh… I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since I was six… but I’m starting to think that being a historian with an equine focus could be much cooler. I just applied to Vet School this past summer… I still don’t know if it’s a commitment I’m ready to make and I don’t even know if it truly want to go. And my parents keep pushing me towards it, lest I make a mistake and not go and regret it for 20 plus years… but what if I regret it now and can’t live my life because I go? I want to help people, and animals, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted, but I also need to have time for myself.

Random Fact: Stranger Things made me realize that I was bisexual. Okay… I had been questioning it for a very long time, somewhere in the back of my mind, but realized after I fell in love with Robin’s character.

And then found that I might have a crush(read: possibly in love with) on my college bestie/roommate and I am too chicken shit to ruin a 5 year friendship with the one person I can trust with my life and will take care of me when I puke from doing a stupid and combining my liquors (wine and vodka) and then offer to drive me, in my car, to McDonald’s nasty drive thru when I can’t even eat apple sauce without puking. She would fight a 6 foot man and win for me and everyone deserves to have an Amber. Correction: she has almost fought a 6ft man for me and would have won had he not been 2 hours away. Everyone also deserves to have a Mikayla, who will threaten to beat someone’s ass and then you two have adhd chaos hours together.

Sorry, that’s on oversharing. Mike Wheeler must’ve possessed me there because you totally say that about your platonic friends.

Anyways.

No pressure to do this, and I’m sorry if you’ve been tagged already! Also I really don’t think I know 15 people but we’ll try it out.

@lilitblaukatz @3ddiemun5on @wheelerstrange @wrenisflying @strangerartist @rebellius @parkitaco @sapphosgaytrashcorner @strawberry-slushy @captain-daryn @willbylrs @justeliiijah @shutuperce

15 questions 15 tags

ty @cornishpixiez and @lilyflxwers for the tag<333

-Nickname: dont have one

-Height: 5'6

-Last thing i googled: hemlock (this is surprisingly normal tbh im a writer my google history is chaotic)

-Song stuck in head: evermore by taylor swift

-# of followers: who knows

-Amount of sleep: today?? 5hours (this is improvement i dont usually sleep that much on mondays)

-Dream job: something in the history department

-Wearing: a shirt with an orange print, jeans, my fluffy jacket

-Movie/book that summarizes you: idk this is hard and i dont think ive consumed enough media for this

-Mav song: would Not be able to choose even if i was held at gunpoint

-Aesthetic: indie rock/folk singer meets depressed greek astronomer

-Fav authors: no idea, although ive been on this Chris Carter high due to my friend making me read all his books

-Random fact: i play four instruments

tagging: @starchiving @arakhnee @significant-ace-nnoyance @jegulusofwesper @forever-augustine @siriusbaby (this isnt 15 tags but okay whos counting??) and anyone else who wants to :)

[frodo-baggins]

🎬📺share ten different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in particular order🎮🃏 Then send this to 10 (anon or not, your choice)

ooh this sounds fun arya, thank you!!! 💖

frodo baggins. iorhael. ringbearer. elf-friend. maura labingi. mr underhill. light and love of my life

sansa stark my absolute darling girl (asoiaf)

fox mulder bestie blorbo beloved (the x files)

anakin skywalker!!!! (sw)

jonathan byers baby boy (stranger things)

sam winchester best boy (spn)

harry james potter (hp) (the terf who must not be named can prise him from my cold dead hands)

natasha romanoff (marvel)

jack shephard (lost)

peeta mellark (the hunger games)

[usuallyapirate]

A short Introduction to the most common Player-Races in Dungeons and Dragons as given by the DnD 5e Players Handbook:

Dwarf

“Yer late,elf!” came the rough edge of a familiar voice. Bruenor Battlehammer walked up the back of his dead foe, disregarding the fact that the heavy monster lay on top of his elven friend. In spite of the added discomfort, the dwarf’s long, pointed, often-broken nose and gray-streaked though still-fiery red beard came as a welcome sight to Drizzt. “Knew I’d find ye in trouble if I came out an' looked for ye!" 

– R.A. Salvatore, The Crysta lShard

Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs—these common threads unite all dwarves.

Elf

“I HAVE NEVER IMAGINED SUCH BEAUTY EXISTED,” Goldmoon said softly. The day’s march had been difficult, but the reward at the end was beyond their dreams. The companions stood on a high cliff over the fabled city of Qualinost. Four slender spires rose from the city’s corners like glistening spindles, their brilliant white stone marbled with shining silver. Graceful arches, swooping from spire to spire, soared through the air. Crafted by ancient dwarven metalsmiths, they were strong enough to hold the weight of an army, yet they appeared so delicate that a bird lighting on them might overthrow the balance. These glistening arches were the city’s only boundaries; there was no wall around Qualinost. The elven city opened its arms lovingly to the wilderness.

 – Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the good things of the world.

Halfling

Regis the halfling, the only one of his kind for hundreds of miles in any direction, locked his fingers behind his head and leaned back against the mossy blanket of the tree trunk. Regis was short, even by the standards of his diminutive race, with the fluff of his curly brown locks barely cresting the three-foot mark, but his belly was amply thickened by his love of a good meal, or several, as the opportunities presented themselves. The crooked stick that served as his fishing pole rose up above him, clenched between two of his toes, and hung out over the quiet lake, mirrored perfectly in the glassy surface of Maer Dualdon. 

– R.A. Salvatore, The Crystal Shard

The comforts of home are the goal of most halflings‘ lives: a place to settle in peace and quiet, far from marauding monsters and clashing armies; a blazing fire and a generous meal; fine drink and fine conversation. Though some halflings live out their days in remote agricultural communities, others form nomadic bands that travel constantly, lured by the open road and the wide horizon to discover the wonders of new lands and peoples. But even these wanderers love peace, food, hearth, and home, though home might be a wagon jostling along a dirt road or a raft floating downriver.

Human

These were the stories of a restless people who long ago took to the seas and rivers in longboats, first to pillage and terrorize, then to settle. Yet there was an energy, a love of adventure, that sang from every page. Long into the night Uriel read, lighting candle after precious candle. She'd never given much thought to humans, but these stories fascinated her. In these yellowed pages were tales of bold heroes, strange and fierce animals, mighty primitive gods, and a magic that was part and fabric of that distant land. 

– Elaine Cunningham, Daughter of the Drow

In the reckonings of most worlds, humans are the youngest of the common races, late to arrive on the world scene and short-lived in comparison to dwarves, elves, and dragons. Perhaps it is because of their shorter lives that they strive to achieve as much as they can in the years they are given. Or maybe they feel they have something to prove to the elder races, and that’s why they build their mighty empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the worlds.

Dragonborn

Her father stood on the first of the three stairs that led down from the portal, unmoving. The scales of his face had grown paler around the edges, but Clanless Mehen still looked as if he could wrestle down a dire bear himself. His familiar well-worn armor was gone, replaced by violet-tinted scale armor with bright silvery tracings. There was a blazon on his arm as well, the mark of some foreign house. The sword at his back was the same, though, the one he had carried since even before he had found the twins left in swaddling at the gates of Arush Vayem. Father’s face was as kill she'd been fortunate to learn. A human who couldn’t spot the shift of her eyes or Havilar’s would certainly see only the indifference of a dragon in Clanless Mehen’s face. But the shift of scales, the arch of a ridge, the set of his eyes, the gape of his teeth – her father's face spoke volumes. But every scale of it, this time, seemed completely still— the indifference of a dragon, even to Farideh.

– Erin M. Evans, The Adversary

Born of dragons, as their name proclaims, the dragonborn walk proudly through a world that greets them with fearful incomprehension. Shaped by draconic gods or the dragons themselves, dragonborn originally hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race, combining the best attributes of dragons and humanoids. Some dragonborn are faithful servants to true dragons, others form the ranks of soldiers in great wars, and still others find themselves adrift, with no clear calling in life.

Gnome

Skinny and flaxen-haired, his skin walnut brown and his eyes a startling turquoise, Burgell stood half as tall as Aeron climb up on a stool to look out the peephole. Like most habitations in Oeble, that particula tenement had been built for humans, and smaller residents coped with the resulting awkwardness as best they could. But at least the relative largeness of the apartment gave Burgell room to pack in all his gnome-sized gear. The front room was his workshop, and it contained a bewildering miscellany of tools: hammers, chisels, saws, lockpicks, tinted lenses, jeweler's loupes, and jars of powdered and shredded ingredients for casting spells. A fat gray cat, the mage’s familiar, lay curled atop a grimoire. It opened its eyes, gave Aeron a disdainful yellow stare, then appeared to go back to sleep. 

– Richard Lee Byers, The Black Bouquet

A constant hum of busy activity pervades the warrens and neighborhoods where gnomes form their close-knit communities. Louder sounds punctuate the hum: a crunch of grinding gears here, a minor explosion there, a yelp of surprise or triumph, and especially bursts of laughter. Gnomes take delight in life, enjoying every moment of invention, exploration, investigation, creation, and play.

Half-Elf

Flint squinted into the setting sun. He thought he saw the figure of a man striding up the path. Standing, Flint drew back into the shadow of a tall pine to see better. The man's walk was marked by an easy grace – an elvish grace, Flint would have said; yet the man’s body had the thickness and tight muscles of a human, while the facial hair was definitely humankind’s. All the dwarf could see of the man’s face beneath a green hood was tan skin and a brownish-red beard. A longbow was slung over one shoulder and a sword hung at his left side. He was dressed in soft leather, carefully tooled in the intricate designs the elves loved. But no elf in the world of Krynn could grow a beard ... no elf, but...

“Tanis?” said Flint hesitantly as the man neared.

“The same.” The newcomer’s bearded face split in a wide grin. He held open his arms and, before the dwarf could stop him, engulfed Flint in a hug that lifted him off the ground. The dwarf clasped his old friend close for a brief instant, then, remembering his dignity, squirmed and freed himself from the half-elf’s embrace. 

– Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither, half-elves combine what some say are the best qualities of their elf and human parents: human curiosity, inventiveness, and ambition tempered by the refined senses, love of nature, and artistic tastes of the elves. Some half-elves live among humans, set apart by their emotional and physical differences, watching friends and loved ones age while time barely touches them. Others live with the elves, growing restless as they reach adulthood in the timeless elven realms, while their peers continue to live as children. Many half-elves, unable to fit into either society, choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life.

Half-Orc

The warchief Mhurren roused himself from his sleeping-furs and his women and pulled a short hauberk of heavy steel rings over his thick, well-muscled torso. He usually rose before most of his warriors, since he had a strong streak of human blood in him, and he found the daylight less bothersome than most of his tribe did. Among the Bloody Skulls, a warrior was judged by his strength, his fierceness, and his wits. Human ancestry was no blemish against a warrior – provided he was every bit as strong, enduring, and blood thirsty as his full-blooded kin. Half-orcs who were weaker than their orc comrades didn't last long among the Bloody Skulls or any other orc tribe for that matter. But it was often true that a bit of human blood gave a warrior just the right mix of cunning, ambition, and self-discipline to go far indeed, as Mhurren had. He was master of a tribe that could muster two thousand spears, and the strongest chief in Thar. 

– Richard Baker, Swordmage

Whether united under the leadership of a mighty warlock or having fought to a standstill after years of conflict, orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde to the terror of civilized lands nearby. When these alliances are sealed by marriages, half-orcs are born. Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivals. Some venture into the world to prove their worth among humans and other more civilized races. Many of these become adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury.

Tiefling

“But you do see the way people look at you, devil’s child." Those black eyes, cold as a winter storm, were staring right into her heart and the sudden seriousness in his voice jolted her.

“What is it they say?" he asked. “One’s a curiosity, two’s a conspiracy—”

“Three's a curse,” she finished. “You think I haven’t heard that rubbish before?”

“I know you have.” When she glared at him, he added, “It’s not as if I’m plumbing the depths of your mind, dear girl. That is the burden of every tiefling. Some break under it, some make it the millstone around their neck, some revel in it.” He tilted his head again, scrutinizing her, with that wicked glint in hiseyes. “You fight it, don’t you? Like a little wildcat, I wager. Every little jab and comment just sharpens your claws.” 

– Erin M. Evans, Brimstone Angels

To be greeted with stares and whispers, to suffer violence and insult on the street, to see mistrust and fear in every eye: this is the lot of the tiefling. And to twist the knife, tieflings know that this is because a pact struck generations ago infused the essence of Asmodeus – overlord of the Nine Hells – into their bloodline. Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable.